Device for curling hair and method



Oct. 9, 1962 H. TALBOT 3,057,363

DEVICE FOR CURLING HAIR AND METHOD Filed March 2. 1960 INVENTOR. m HARRY meor fi l-qmu uwml ATTORNEYS United States This invention relates to a device and method for curling hair, the device itself being generally of the type shown in United States Letters Patent No. 2,935,070, issued May 3, 1960, to Cape Auz.

One of the objects of this invention is the provision of an improved method of curling hair by forming strands of hair into curls and heating said curls by conduction and ironing them, without employing a chemical solution and without injury to the hair, or discomfort to the scalp.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device that is adapted to safely and quickly form curls in the hair while the hair is dry, and without discomfort to the person or injury to the hair, and without requiring a long and tedious application of heat.

In explanation of the above, the employment of heat for curling hair is well known. Prior to the advent of the so-called cold wave method, it was customary to wrap the moi-st hair on cylinders that were heated to efiect vaporization of the moisture and to put the desired curl into the hair. Such machines were costly and the upkeep was high due to the frequency with which the heating elements were burned out. Also the method was relatively slow and with considerable discomfort to the person whose hair was being curled. The curling device would also be heated at the same time, tying up an entire machine until the heating and vaporizing step was completed.

The foregoing method was displaced to a major extent by the use of chemical solutions to soften the hair. These solutions are known as cold wave solutions. Frequent use of such hair softening chemical solutions results in gradual loss of the hair and injury to the roots, and the operators hands became sore to the point where they must cease to work, unless their hands are rested and treated. Furthermore the hair loses its natural luster and resort is had to other chemicals to enhance its appearance, between the times when it is washed.

With the present invention, a small, economically manufactured, hand carried and hand manipulated device quickly wraps each strand of hair onto a cylinder, and the infra red rays of a heating element applies heat to the hair during wrapping on the cylinder and then the strand is ironed for a'few seconds after it is Wrapped, and the operator then removes the wrapping and heating device and goes to the next curl, leaving the previous one on the cylinder. After the hair is curled wherever desired, the cylinders are removed and each curl is combed out, and the person may leave.

The hair so curled has a bright natural lustre, and the curls will hold longer than where curled by the cold wave method and the hair will resist straightening when wetted, whereas chemically softened curled hair will straighten out when it becomes Wet. With each successive curling step, the curls formed by the present method will become more permanent, until they approach the durability of a permanent wave.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description andin the drawings.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of the device to be used for curling the hair, the view being partly in elevation and partly in cross section, and the broken lines indicating a strand of hair in a position preparatory to forming it into a curl.

atent ice FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of one of the members on which the hair is to be wound to form a curl.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the member of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a slightly differout form of member than is shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the curling head of the device of FIG. 1 as seen from the left side of the head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, tragmentary, sectional view of a pair of the heating fingers on the head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical circuit that may be employed.

In detail the device illustrated in the drawings comprises a handle 1 that may be in the form of a tubular housing adapted to be conveniently grasped by the hand of the operator. A conventional two wire electrical cord 2 may enter one end of said handle for connection with an electric motor 3 that is secured within the housing.

Motor 3 is preferably a slow speed motor, having a drive shaft 4 extending into a head 5 on the end of the handle opposite to cord 2. A bevel gear 6 is secured on the end of shaft 4, the teeth of which are in mesh with the teeth on a second bevel gear 7. Gear 7 is secured on the end of a shaft 8 that extends at right angles to shafit 4 and that is supported in an electrical insulation bearing 9.

This shaft 8 has a cylindrical head or body of electrical insulation material 10 secured to the end thereof opposite to gear 7. Head 10 carries the heating fingers generally designated 11, which fingers are in side by side relation projecting outwardly of head 10, and disposed in an annular row.

The heating fingers (FIG. 6), generally designated 11, each comprises a flattened, elongated open loop of Nichrome wire 12, and inasmuch as direct current is used for heating the wire, the latter may be of relatively heavy gauge wire, generally comparable to 16 gauge so as to be substantially indestructible, relatively stiff, yet yieldable or resilient.

The wire 12 is continuous, and the base ends of the loops that form fingers 11 are secured within the head 10. If desired, a spacer 13 may be positioned within each loop to insure against the sides of the loop contacting each other or bent to contact each other.

Frictionally held on each loop, covering the same from end to end and projecting beyond the outer end of each loop, is a tubular sleeve 14 of electrical insulation material adapted to withstand temperatures up to approximately 500 F. and higher, such as is known under the tradename of Teflon. These sleeves 14 form coverings for the fingers 11, and said fingers are spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit a strand of hair to be curled to be slipped between an adjacent pair of fingers 11.

The word strand as used herein is intended to define the number of individual hairs that are in each group to be curled.

One end of the heating element 12 may be secured to a brush 15 that contacts the cylindrical sided metal housing 16 that encircles the head carrying the fingers 11, while the other end of the element may connect with a brush 17 that engages shaft 8 (FIG. 7).

Current for the motor 3 may be provided from any suitable A.C. house circuit, and a transformer 18 and rectifier 19 in said circuit provides a relatively low voltage D.C. current to the motor and to the heating ele-,

ment. A finger actuatable switch 20 controls the circuit to the motor and .a similar switch 21 controls the circuit to the heating element. Motor 3 may have a speed of approximately rpm. when switch 21 is open, but

when switch 21 is closed, the speed of the motor will, drop to approximately 40 rpm. However, the degree of drop or lowering depends upon the degree of resistance in Wire 12, and can be varied.

The member around which the strand of hair, generally designated 24 (FIG. 1), is to be wound, is shown on FIG. 2. The member 22 comprises a hollow, tubular portion 25, that may be generally cylindrical, or tapered slightly, as seen in FIG. 2. This portion is closed at its smaller diameter end and contains a torsion spring 26, one end of which is fastened to said closed end, and the other end of which is secured to an arcuately extending segment 27 projecting radially outwardly of the larger diameter end of the portion 25, while the arcuate segment 28 against which segment 27 is slidable, is rigid with the portion 25. Finger engageable cars 29, 30 respectively on segments 27 28 enable rotating the segments relatively so as to move their adjacent concavely curved end edges 31 apart for inserting strand 24 between said edges. When the ears are released the spring 26 will yieldably urge the end edges 31 against the strand to hold it to the member 22 with the free end of the strand alongside the portion 25.

As seen in FIG. 1 the tubular portion 25 of member 24 is adapted to extend endwise into the space enclosed by the row of heating fingers 11.

Outside the heating fingers is guide means for the strand in the form of a spiral wire 33 covered with electrical insulation material. The adjacent coils of this wire are open or spaced apart so as to form the sides of a spiral or generally helically extending passageway around the row of heating fingers. The helically coiled extension 34 of wire 33 at one end thereof yieldably grips the stationary outer side of a hub 35 that encloses bearing 9, and the other end of the passageway formed by wire 33 is open and is closely adjacent to the segments on the tubular portion 25 when the latter is within the row of heating fingers.

The member, generally designated 36 (FIG. 4) may be the same as member 22, except that the tubular portion 37 has straight cylindrical sides. The same strand engaging means as is used on portion 25 of FIG. 2 is on the one end of portion 37.

In describing the operation, it will be the same for either member 24 or 36.

In operation, the clamp on member 22 will engage strand 24- relatively close to the scalp if the curl is to extend substantially to the scalp and the hair that is clamped will prevent the member 22 from rotating as the fingers 11 wind the hair that is outwardly of the clamp onto member 22. The operator will then thrust the row of fingers 11 endwise over the portion 25 substantially to the clamp or segments 27, 28 in which position the strand 24 will be adapted to be carried into the open end of the spiral passageway formed by wire 33 upon the fingers 11 being revolved.

If desired, switch 21 may be closed to heat the fingers 11 and upon switch being closed, the fingers 11 will be revolved about the portion of member 22 and relative to Wire 33 to wind the strand on member 22. This winding may be relatively slow to avoid tangling the hair and at the same time the strand will be guided along the portion 25 into a generally helical coil, with opposite sides of the strand being heated. Revolution of the heated fingers preferably continues after the strand is fully wound on the portion 25, and the wound strand is wound by the fingers, with the latter in contact with the hair. Once the hair is wound on the portion 25 the switch 21 may be opened with the result that the fingers 11 will revolve much more rapidly than before, while the heat that is therein will be conducted to the hair.

The winding and heating and ironing of each curl may be completed within approximately six to ten seconds time, but the time will vary according to whether the hair is straight, thick and coarse or fine and fairly thin. In any event, the hair is preferably dry during the curling op eration, and as soon as this operation is completed, the fingers may be Withdrawn and moved to the next member 22, leaving the one on which a strand has just been 4 curled, to cool. The temperature of the fingers may be approximately 300 to 400 F. and the portion 25 is preferably of aluminum, or other suitable heat conductive material, while the segments 27, 28 may be of plastic or material of low heat conductivity.

After all of the curls have been formed, the members 22 are removed and the curls are combed out, thereby completing the operation.

It is obvious that difierent length members 22 may be provided. The guide means may also be of any desired length, and while it tightly grips the hub 35, it may be quickly released by twisting it in one direction thus enabling the guide to be quickly replaced.

Longer members 22 are usually preferable where the hair is long, while shorter ones may be used for shorter hair.

The fingers 11 may be parallel or inclined toward each other in a direction toward the head 10. Where parallel the member 36 is preferably employed so that the fingers will iron the strand when wound on the member 36.

While the heat is conducted to the hair, since the insulation covered wire 12 is in contact with the hair, there will be a certain amount of the infra red heat transmitted from the wire to the hair by radiation due to the fact that there is an insulation spacing the wire from the hair. In any event the hair is ironed by the fingers, being in contact therewith, and the resiliency of the fingers enables them to yieldably move radially outwardly under the pressure of the hair wound on the member 24, or 36.

As has been mentioned, the employment of a DC. motor enables the use of a small, slow speed motion, which is hi hly desirable, and it enables the use of a heavy strong heating element that will last indefinitely, however, it is to be understood that the detailed description is not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and claims. It is merely descriptive of one example of the invention, and the claims are intended to cover any modifications that come within the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl; ironing said curl in the direction in which it is wound and at the same time applying heat thereto by conduction; then discontinuing supplying heat to said curl and said ironing thereof.

2. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl; ironing said curl in the direction in which it is wound and applying heat to the outside of said curl by conduction during said ironing thereof; then discontinuing supplying heat to said curl and said ironing thereof.

3. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl and at the same time applying heat thereto against the outer side 'therof; then ironing said curl in the direction at a predetermined temperature substantially above that of atmospheric temperature, and thereafter discontinuing supplying heat to said curl and the ironing thereof.

4. The method of curling hair on the head of a person that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction the separate strands of hair to be curled into curls, heating each of the curls from the outside thereof during the formation thereof and thereafter and continuously ironing each curl in the direction in which it is wound after it is formed; then discontinuing said heating and ironing steps and finally combing out each curl, all of the foregoing steps being conducted while each strand is substantially dry.

5. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl and, during the Winding thereof, applying heat to opposite sides of said strand, then ironing said curl in the direction in which it has been wound and at the same time applying heat thereto, and finally discontinuing the supply of heat to the curl and discontinuing the ironing thereof, and finally combing out each curl.

6. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl at a relatively slow rate of speed; applying heat to opposite sides of said strand during the winding thereof and thereafter ironing said strand in the direction of said curl at a relatively higher rate of speed than said first mentioned speed and at the Same time continuing the application of heat to the exterior of said curl, and then discontinuing supplying heat to said curl and said ironing thereof.

7. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; Winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl and during said winding applying heat thereto at a temperature of between approximately 300 F. and approximately 450 F.; then and after said curl is formed, ironing it in the direction in which it has been wound for a predetermined time at approximately said temperature, and thereafter discontinuing the application of heat thereto and said ironing.

8. The method of curling hair that comprises the steps of; winding in one direction a strand of hair to be curled into a curl at a relatively slow rate of speed; applying heat to opposite sides of said strand during the winding thereof and thereafter ironing said strand in the direction of said curl at a relatively higher rate of speed than said first mentioned speed and at the same time continuing the application of heat to the exterior of said curl, and then discontinuing supplying heat to said curl and said ironing thereof, said winding step being conducted at a relatively low rate of speed and said ironing step being conducted at a substantially higher rate of speed.

9. A device for curling hair including; an elongated member on which a strand of hair is adapted to be wound to form a curl, stationary guide means spaced outwardly of said member and extending substantially from end to end thereof for guiding a strand of hair during winding thereof on said member, heating means between said member and said guide means extending substantially from end to end thereof engageable with a strand of hair for winding such strand on said member and for heating said strand, means mounting said heating means for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said member, means connected with said heating means for revolving the latter about said axis and for heating it.

10. A device for curling hair including; an elongated member on which a strand of hair is adapted to be wound to form a curl, stationary guide means spaced outwardly of said member and extending substantially from end to end thereof for guiding a strand of hair during winding thereof on said member, heating means between said member and said guide means extending substantially from end to end thereof engageable with a strand of hair for winding such strand on said member and for heating said strand, means mounting said heating means for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said member, means connected with said heating means for revolving the latter about said axis and for heating it, said member being freely removable, longitudinally thereof, from within said heating means and having an outer end portion terminating outside said heating means and said guide means when said member is within said heating means, said end portion including means for releasably gripping the strand of hair to be wound thereon at a point adjacent to the scalp.

11. A device for curling hair including; an elongated member on which a strand of hair is adapted to be wound to form a curl, stationary guide means spaced outwardly of said member and extending substantially from end to end thereof for guiding a strand of hair during winding thereof on said member, heating means between said member and said guide means extending substantially from end to end thereof engageable with a strand of hair for winding such strand on said member and for heating said strand, means mounting said heating means for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said member, means connected with said heating means for revolving the latter about said axis and for heating it, a handle adapted to be grasped for manipulation thereof, said handle having an outer end; means for securing one end of said guide means to said handle and the means mounting said heating means for rotation being carried by said handle.

12. A device for curling hair including; a handle adapted to be grasped by the hand of an operator for manipulation thereof; an annular row of spaced elongated heating fingers in side by side relation between any adjacent pair thereof a strand of hair is adapted to extend, means mounting said row of fingers on said handle at one of their ends for revolution of said fingers about the axis of said row; an elongated generally cylindrical member about which a strand of hair is to be wound, strand holding means on one end of said member for releasably connecting it to such strand at a point adjacent to the scalp, and the portion of said member extending away from said strand holding means being adapted to be slipped into the central space surrounded by said row longitudinally of said fingers; means carried by said handle connected with said fingers for heating them and for revolving them about said axis.

13. A device for curling hair including: a handle adapted to be grasped by the hand of an operator for manipulation thereof; an annular row of spaced elongated heating fingers in side by side relation between any adjacent pair thereof a strand of hair is adapted to extend, means mounting said row of fingers on said handle at one of their ends for revolution of said fingers about the axis of said row; an elongated generally cylindrical member about which a strand of hair is to be wound, strand holding means on one end of said member for releasably connecting it to such strand at a point adjcent to the scalp, and the portion of said member extending away from said strand holding means being adapted to he slipped into the central space surrounded by said row longitudinally of said fingers; means carried by said handle connected with said fingers for heating them and for revolving them about said axis, said fingers being yieldable for radial movement relative to said row and for yieldably engaging hair wound on said member for ironing the latter upon revolving said fingers after the latter is on said member.

14. A device for curling hair including; a handle adapted to be grasped by the hand of an operator for manipulation thereof; an annular row of spaced elongated heating fingers in side by side relation between any adjacent pair thereof a strand of hair is adapted to extend, means mounting said row of fingers on said handle at one of their ends for revolution of said fingers about the axis of said row; an elongated generally cylindrical member about which a strand of hair is to be wound, strand holding means on one end of said member for releasably connecting it to such strand at a point adjacent to the scalp, and the portion of said member extending away from said strand holding means being adapted to be slipped into the central space surrounded by said row longitudinally of said fingers; means carried by said handle connected with said fingers for heating them and for revolving them about said axis, guide means stationarily connected with said handle and supported alongside said fingers engageable with such strand when said member is within said space and said strand extends between one of the adjacent pairs of heating fingers for guiding said strand along said member from one end thereof to the other upon revolving said fingers about said axis.

15. A device for curling hair comprising; a handle adapted to be grasped by the hand of an operator for manipulation thereof; an inner elongated, generally cylindrical member on which a strand of hair is to be wound, elongated heating means within which said member is adapted to be positioned coaxial therewith and in spaced relation thereto, elongated guide means within which said member and said heating means are adapted to be positioned coaxial therewith and spaced therefrom; strand holding means on one end of said member for engaging a strand of hair adjacent to the scalp for winding of the strand outwardly of said holding means onto said memher, said heating means having a slot extending longitudinally thereof through Which such strand is adapted to extend when said member is within said heating means, said guide means being formed to provide a spirally extending passageway from end to end thereof through which said strand is adapted to extend, means connecting one of the ends of said heating means to said handle for rotation about its longitudinally extending axis, the outer ends of the slot in said heating means and the spiral passageway that are remote from said handle being open and adjacent to each other, said means being adapted to be freely slipped over said member longitudinally thereof to a position in which said holding means is adjacent to said outer end whereby a strand held by said holding means will be adapted to be extended into and across said slot and said passageway at their outer open ends, means connected with said heating element for rotating it to elfective winding of said strand on said member, and means for supplying heat to said heating means.

16. In a device for curling hair, the combination of; heating means comprising an elongated finger, means mounting said finger at one end thereof for revolving about an axis eccentric thereto extending longitudinally thereof, a generally cylindrical member alongside said finger on which a strand of hair to be curled is to be wound, means at one end of said member for releasably connecting it to said strand at a point adjacent to the scalp, means connected with said finger for heating it and means for supporting it alongside said member for Winding said strand on said member upon said finger being so revolved and in engagement with said strand, means connected with said finger for so revolving it.

17. In a device for curling hair, the combination of; heating means comprising an elongated finger, means mounting said finger at one end thereof for revolving about an axis eccentric thereto extending longitudinally thereof, a generally cylindrical member alongside said finger on which a strand of hair to be curled is to be wound, means at one end of said member for releasably connecting it to said strand at a point adjacent to the scalp, means connected with said finger for heating it and means for supporting it alongside said member for winding said strand on said member upon said finger being so revolved and in engagement with said strand, means connected with said finger for so revolving it, said finger being yieldable upon said strand being forceably urged thereagainst, and guide means stationary relative to said finger and adjacent thereto adapted to engage said strand and to progressively move said strand along said member upon said finger being revolved about the latter for Winding said strand on said member from one end thereof to the other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,894,624 Marcel Jan. 17, 1933 2,052,353 Kiss Aug. 25, 1936 2,248,527 Gil July 8, 1941 

